Music: Over the Rhine

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Cincinnati has a lot of holiday happenings that bring people in from across the region, but there’s one holiday music event that annually brings music lovers from across the country to the Queen City. It seems like every time beloved Cincy-based Folk/Pop act Over the Rhine presents its annual “Holiday Homecoming Show,” it comes at the end of another triumphant year for the long-running local legends with a dedicated international fanbase. This year is no different — the band is capping off a fantastic 2011 that saw the release of its 21st album (if you count live efforts and other non-standard studio projects), The Long Surrender, recorded with noted musician/prouducer Joe Henry and featuring a duet with the iconic Lucinda Williams. The album, which came out in February on the band’s own Great Speckled Dog imprint, was very well received by the band’s fanbase and critics alike. Paste magazine, a longtime OTR supporter, recently ranked Surrender No. 38 on its list of the best albums of 2011 (with surely more “Best of 2011” list appearances to come). Tickets for Saturday’s 8 p.m. concert at Taft Theatre — which will feature lots of OTR’s holiday-themed tunes, as well as other fan faves and surprises — are $45.30 (including service charges) and available through Ticketmaster outlets (including ticketmaster.com). Singer/songwriter Lucy Wainwright Roche, daughter of two Folk word giants — Loudon Wainwright III and Suzzy Roche — opens.